Marguerites By the Sea and Caribbean Producers Jamaica Ltd (CPJ) hosted a truly delightful evening of gastronomy, delivered through a food and wine paired dinner, featuring premium Italian wine brand Banfi and sumptuous fare served up by the restaurant’s culinary team.

The specially curated dinner took place last Friday at the restaurant located on Montego Bay’s famed Hip Strip (Jimmy Cliff Boulevard), with hospitality industry guests treated to delicately paired dishes to highlight the finest notes in the night’s selected pours. Five wines from the winery’s impressive portfolio were selected and the culinary team led by Executive Chef Cecil Jagdath and sous-chef Marcia Farquharson set out to create the best possible pairings.

“For the first course we opted for a Chilean sea bass to be paired with the La Pettegola Vermentino. This is a very oily and delicate fish and we wanted to enhance the fruitiness of the wine, while at the same time allowing them to be compatible and balanced on the palate.

The San Angelo Pinot Grigio was chosen for the second course. Pinot Grigios are classically paired with shellfish but we wanted to put a twist on it. We paired it with a chicken roulade with lobster mousseline cooked in tequila citrus sauce to reduce the oiliness of the lobster while taking care not to overcook the lobster,” Jagdath explained.

A melon sorbet served as the palate cleanser before the third course and signalled a change in wines as the remaining courses were down to be paired with red wines.

“The third course needed the most attention to detail as the Lalus Albarossa has very savoury notes, so we decided to create a salty and flavourful scallop dish with linguine alfredo. The scallops were seared, essentially getting them caramelised, resulting in some sweetness to the scallops, and the linguine alfredo was cooked in lobster sauce. This brought out the intense flavours in the dish, spiciness and sweetness resulting in a well-balanced pairing with the wine.

“For the next course the Aska Bolgheri Rosso has flavours of blueberry, cocoa and is a very robust wine. We could have gone with a pheasant dish but we opted for a lamb tenderloin with blueberry mash potato and crème de menthe chocolate sauce. This leaves a mint taste but not overpowering, as all flavours are extinguished in the dish,” Jagdath added.

The fifth course consisted of a beef tenderloin paired with the Brunello Di Montalcino followed by dessert choices of soursop cheesecake and banana and cranberry bread pudding.

“The wine is very balanced in terms of acidity but we didn’t want the tannins to counter the tenderloin. We did a marinating process as well as pairing it with an oxtail ragout caramelised for the sweetness, pumpkin hash to add some earthiness, cheese and bacon for saltiness. For my favourite dish, the soursop cheesecake with crème de banane and cranberry bread pudding, this challenges the flavour profile and I like to take chances like these,” Jagdath added further.

Banfi Area Manager of Las Americas and the Caribbean Peter Hopgood spoke on the wines selected for the evening.

“The La Pettegola Vermentino is a fresh and acidic new wine on the market which emulates the taste of tropical fruits. The San Angelo Pinot Grigio is an elegant wine much different from the San Marguerite coming out of the northern and southern parts of Italy making it less acidic. The La Lus Albarossa has very bold flavours but is a light-body tasting wine. The Aska Bolgheri Rosso is a full-body, bold flavoured wine and the Brunello Di Montalcino is our centrepiece, made from the Sangiovese grape, and is regarded as the best wine in the Tuscan area of Italy,” Hopgood explained.